The Greek Billionaire's Innocent Princess (10 page)

prevent herself from staring at him and greedily absorbing his stunning looks.

‘I didn’t trick you intentionally. You mistook me for a servant at the ball and it seemed easier to

go along with it. Be honest, would you have believed me if I’d told you my real identity?’ she

demanded when he glared at her. ‘Everyone at the ball compared me unfavourably with my sister

Liss, and they were right, I didn’t look like a glamorous princess, I looked like the frumpy

waitress you believed me to be. When we met on the beach later that night I was amazed when

you said you found me attractive. You made me feel beautiful, even though I know I’m not,’ she

said bleakly, ‘and I wanted to carry on being sexy Rina, rather than drab Kitty.’

‘And having fooled me that you were Rina the waitress, you decided that it was a good

opportunity to lose your virginity to an experienced man rather than a fumbling boy?’ Nikos

reminded her of her words when he had discovered her innocence, no hint of softening on his

hard face. ‘You are an heir to the crown of Aristo—
what the hellwere you thinking of
?’ he

exploded furiously.

‘It was a moment of madness,’ Kitty defended herself. She moved her hand instinctively to her

stomach, thinking of the tiny life that was growing inside her. ‘I never dreamed that it would

have such catastrophic consequences.’

‘But it did, and now we must deal with those consequences,’ Nikos told her bluntly. He paused

and in the tense silence Kitty felt the same sickening dread that had filled her when, despite her

fear of heights, she had volunteered to do a bungee jump for charity and had crouched at the top

of the platform one hundred and fifty feet above the ground, preparing to launch herself over the

edge.

‘The only possible solution is for us to marry.’

There was no other alternative, Nikos acknowledged silently as he watched Kitty’s mouth fall

open in an expression of utter shock. He had vowed never to marry again, but if he wanted this

child—and he did, unquestionably—then he would have to sacrifice his freedom and take a

woman who had proved herself to be untrustworthy as his bride. ‘It may not be ideal,’ he

snapped when Kitty shook her head frantically. ‘Believe me, the situation is not what I would

have chosen, either. But I have promised Sebastian that I will do my duty by you.’

The room suddenly seemed to be spinning—or was it her? Kitty collapsed back against the

cushions. ‘The idea is ridiculous,’ she said faintly, repelled by the word ‘duty’.

‘Are you saying you have a better suggestion?’ Nikos strolled over to the sofa and stared down

at her, his eyebrows raised in an expression of haughty arrogance. ‘I’m intrigued, Your

Highness. What are you intending to do? I’d like to make it crystal clear, by the way, that no

child of mine will be born illegitimately,’ he added harshly when she stared at him in numb

silence. ‘And I should point out that Sebastian looked mightily relieved when I assured him of

my intention to marry you as soon as it can be arranged. He has enough problems at the moment

without worrying about you.’

‘He doesn’t need to worry about me. I can take care of myself,’ Kitty muttered stubbornly,

knowing in her heart that Sebastian’s concern was not simply for her, but for the damaging effect

her unplanned pregnancy might have on the monarchy. The situation was unprecedented. The

people of Aristo were ardent royalists, but they would be dismayed to hear that a member of the

royal family was pregnant and unmarried, and, as Nikos had said, this was a difficult enough

time for Sebastian, the would-be-King who was waiting to be crowned.

But marry Nikos? Marry a man who was furious with her for lying to him, and who was staring

at her with scathing contempt, as if she were the lowest life-form on the planet? It wasn’t just

ridiculous, it was utter madness and she absolutely would not agree to it. Since she was a little

girl she had clung to the belief that she would one day fall in love and be loved in return, and she could not bear to see the fairy tale turn to ashes before her eyes. ‘How can we marry?’ she asked

huskily. ‘We don’t love each other.’

Nikos spared her a derisive glance. ‘What is love other than an illusion found in books and

films?’ he said sardonically. ‘Too often people mistake
lust
for love, but it’s not an error I’m ever likely to make. I am suggesting a marriage of convenience purely for the sake of our child.

‘I have never known the identity of my father,’ he revealed harshly. ‘My mother would never

tell me his name, but I have always wondered if I look like him or if we share similar traits.’ He

stared down at Kitty, his eyes suddenly blazing. ‘I won’t allow my child to suffer the trauma of

not knowing his bloodline.’

Kitty was startled by the raw emotion in his voice, and even more shocked by the realisation that

he was deadly serious. ‘Nikos, let’s be sensible about this,’ she said desperately. ‘I’m only three

weeks pregnant and it would be madness to rush into marriage, and…and then find that it had

been needless.’ Her voice faltered when she imagined losing her baby. Already she had formed

an emotional bond with the tiny new life that she and Nikos had unwittingly created, but she had

to be prosaic. There was no history of miscarriages in her family but no one could foretell the

future.

‘There are plenty of other options open to us,’ she went on when his jaw tightened. ‘If you really

want to play a part in the baby’s life we could come to an arrangement about access and so on.

You could visit the palace regularly…’ She could feel his dark eyes boring into her and faltered.

‘What I’m trying to say is that there is no need for either of us to make rash decisions. I’m not a

poorly paid waitress, I have financial security and a supportive family here on Aristo, and I will

manage to bring up this child perfectly well on my own.’

Nikos’s blood had frozen at the word access, and it hit him suddenly that if he wasn’t careful

things could go very wrong. From the sound of it Kitty was determined to bring up their child on

her own, but he was equally determined to be part of his baby’s life. He was going to be a proper

father, not some semi-stranger who visited the palace occasionally according to the rules of his

visitation rights. Kitty had stated that she did not need him, and she certainly had the means to

bring up a child without his help. Somehow he was going to have to convince her that he was

indispensable—and he was prepared to use emotional blackmail to persuade her to marry him.

‘So, are you going to tell your mother, while she is unwell and still grief-stricken by the death of the king, that you refuse to marry the father of your baby—and that you don’t care that your

actions will bring shame on the royal family?’ he asked Kitty harshly. ‘Sebastian is speaking to

the queen now. He was anxious that she should learn of your pregnancy from him, rather than

overhear the gossip among the servants which is inevitable after the scene in the drawing room.’

His dark eyes bored into Kitty remorselessly when she gave a cry of distress. ‘We can only hope

that none of the guests or members of the press who were at the reception today actually guessed

that you are pregnant. If we marry quickly no one need know that it’s a shotgun wedding.’

He watched Kitty twisting her hands in the folds of her blue satin gown that the Queen and

princesses customarily wore on formal state occasions. The floor-length dress disguised her

shape, but beneath the stiff material he could picture the rounded fullness of her breasts and the

dip and curve of her waist and hips, and he felt the familiar tug of sexual frustration that had

plagued him since the night of the ball. He felt a sudden urge to pull the pins from her hair and

run his fingers through the rich chestnut silk, and when she lifted her head he noted that her eyes

were a deep, dark brown, velvet soft and fringed by impossibly long, thick lashes.

‘Where are your glasses? Or were they part of your costume for your little theatrical

performance the night we met?’ he queried mockingly, forcing himself to move away from the

temptation of her lush pink mouth. He was infuriated that he still wanted her despite the evidence

that she had lied to him. The whole ‘Rina the waitress’ charade was still beyond his

comprehension and he hated the idea that she had played him for a fool, but he couldn’t forget

the wild passion they had shared in the cave, and he was aware from the familiar tightening in

his gut that his body was impatient for a repeat performance.

‘I’m wearing my contact lenses today,’ Kitty told him stiffly, ‘and I’ve already explained that I

didn’t deliberately set out to trick you. Circumstances just…happened.’ Her voice wavered as

she tried to imagine her mother’s shock and concern at the news of her pregnancy. Queen Tia

would want her to marry Nikos, she acknowledged heavily, and Sebastian would be in favour of

a quick solution to the embarrassing problem of her pregnancy. But how could she go through

with it, and marry a man who had made it clear that he did not believe in love and would never

care for her?

‘Make no mistake, Kitty,’ Nikos said quietly as he watched the play of emotions on her face. ‘If

you think I will simply walk away and allow you to bring up our child on your own, be warned, I

will fight you for custody. Even if it means sacrificing my friendship with Sebastian I will have

no compunction about dragging you and the rest of the royal family through the courts, and the

fallout is likely to be extremely damaging to the monarchy.’

There was no doubt that Nikos was deadly serious, and a shiver ran through Kitty when she met

his hard stare. The first time she had met him she had detected a ruthless side to him that he hid

beneath a veneer of seductive charm. There was no sign of that charm now. He had called

himself a pirate, and she realised with terrifying certainty that if she chose to do battle with him, she would lose.

‘I am utterly determined that my child will live in Greece with me,’ he said curtly. ‘It’s up to

you if you want to take an active role in his upbringing.’

‘What do you mean—an active role in his upbringing? It’s my baby! And why do you think it’s

a boy? There’s just as much chance it’s a girl,’ Kitty said shakily, still reeling from Nikos’s

assertion that he wanted their child to live in Greece. ‘You can’t possibly expect me to leave

Aristo. I’ve lived here all my life.’

On the night of the ball the palace had seemed stifling, and she had felt a restless longing to

escape the confines of royal life. Now that life seemed safe and reassuring and she wanted it to

remain unchanged. But of course her life would change, she was going to be a mother, and in her

heart she knew she could not remain at the palace and bring up her child without its father. ‘If we

were to marry, why couldn’t you live here at the palace too?’ she asked Nikos faintly.

‘My business is based in Athens, and I need to be there,’ he explained coolly. ‘Naturally, as my

wife, you will live with me, and although we will retain strong ties with Aristo and the royal

family, our child, boy or girl,’ he said pointedly, ‘will grow up in Greece. I’ve discussed it with

Sebastian and he is in complete agreement,’ he added, as if that settled the matter.

Kitty shivered at the grim finality of his words. Sebastian had agreed, and, although her brother

would never force her into marrying Nikos, she knew realistically that she had no option. She felt

as though prison bars were closing around her. The room suddenly seemed claustrophobic and

she stumbled to her feet and hurried across to the door. For the sake of her child, and the royal

family, she would have to marry Nikos, but the prospect of being trapped in a loveless union

with a man whose scathing opinion of marriage was well known, and who was furious with her

for making a fool of him, filled her with despair.

‘I need some time to think,’ she muttered, every muscle in her body tensing when Nikos moved

with the speed and grace of a big cat to stand in front of her.

‘Far from being the poorly educated waitress you led me to believe at the ball, I have learned

from Sebastian that you are a brilliant academic, and I have no doubt that you understand the

gravity of the situation,’ he said harshly. ‘You have to make a decision
now
. Sebastian and your mother know that I am at this moment asking you to marry me, and we are expected to go

immediately to the queen’s private quarters and tell them your answer.

‘As I see it, neither of us has any option,’ he continued when she made no reply, and, although

her mind screamed in silent rejection of his words, Kitty acknowledged with a leaden heart that

he was right.

Warily she lifted her eyes to him, and even in the midst of her turmoil heat flared inside her

when she studied his hard-boned, handsome face. It seemed a lifetime ago that they had made

love in the cave, and when she focused on the cruel line of his mouth it seemed impossible that

he had once kissed her with fierce passion. His aura of power was tangible, and she suddenly felt

weak and drained. Everything was stacked in his favour, and she did not have the strength to

fight him.

‘When?’ She forced the word past her numb lips, barely able to believe that she was